An Examination of US and EU Competition Policy

E-book $10.00 to $65.00About E-booksISBN: 9780226176246
Published
February 2015

How is it that two broadly similar systems of competition law have reached different results across a number of significant antitrust issues? While the United States and the European Union share a commitment to maintaining competition in the marketplace and employ similar concepts and legal language in making antitrust decisions, differences in social values, political institutions, and legal precedent have inhibited close convergence.

With The Atlantic Divide in Antitrust, Daniel J. Gifford and Robert T. Kudrle explore many of the main contested areas of contemporary antitrust, including mergers, price discrimination, predatory pricing, and intellectual property. After identifying how prevailing analyses differ across these areas, they then examine the policy ramifications. Several themes run throughout the book, including differences in the amount of discretion firms have in dealing with purchasers, the weight given to the welfare of various market participants, and whether competition tends to be viewed as an efficiency-generating process or as rivalry. The authors conclude with forecasts and suggestions for how greater compatibility might ultimately be attained.

“With The Atlantic Divide in Antitrust, Gifford and Kudrle have prepared a thoughtful and well-researched work, and their detailed treatment and rich comparison of approaches will be welcomed by academics and authorities on either side of the Atlantic.”

D. Daniel Sokol, University of Florida Levin College of Law

"Gifford and Kudrle provide an intellectual tour de force in their comparative analysis of US and European antitrust. Their work offers important analysis of the major issues and will appeal to both academics and practitioner audiences."

Tom Sullivan, University of Vermont

“With eloquence and thoroughness, Gifford and Kudrle examine the rich history and political economy underlying the transatlantic similarities and differences in the competition policy and law of the United States and the European Union. The authors critically examine where tensions remain, but also where convergences have emerged. The Atlantic Divide in Antitrust should be on the reading list for all antitrust lawyers, economists, and competition policy officials on both sides of the Atlantic.”

World Competition

“This fascinating little book analyzes and contrasts the similarities and differences between US Antitrust and European Union Law of competition, in the light of social, cultural, institutional, and economic backgrounds of particular period."